No post today, because the earth has been destroyed.

Don’t take my word for it. Check the IEDAB website.

Well, I’ve threatened to do this, and now is the time, I think (especially since all the remaining Omodaka videos have something to do with Jet Ski racing. Omodaka has a think for Jet Ski racing, I’ve found) (and since thinking about how the Japanese have treated the Ainu – much like the way Americans have treated Native Americans, I understand – suddenly makes me want to get the hell away from anything Japanese [1]).

You may remember that I posted a What the FUCK about a week ago with a rather creepy animation loop set to some rather creepy music (in other words, it fit right in on this blog). It was made by British musician and animator Cyriak Harris (site here, MySpace here), and it turns out that he’s rather… prolific. This is lucky for me, as I have fodder for posts well into the next week. Whether it’s lucky for you, dear reader, I leave to you to decide.

To give you an idea of the Cyriakness of Cyriak, he’s been kind enough to put together a mindfuck mix reel, submitted for your approval.

Oh, and if you’ve see March 20’s What the FUCK, you may experience a certain amount of déjà vu at 2:52 in this video. Psychotics often experience that  just before they suffer a full schizophrenic break. Just so you know.

[1] These little unlit bits of Japanese history are the kind foreign devil otaku don’t like to think about too much. Rape of Nanking, anyone?

More funkified Japanese music, hmmm?

Well, this time I’m going to play a performance that had no song name or performers name. It looked interesting, though, as this is supposed to be a traditional dance (and presumably song) of the Ainu people.

They are basically a ethnic group in Japan that have their own language with no known connection to any other language in the world. Since we’re talking about Japan, center of cultural conformity, there has been all sorts of discrimination against them, with the usual steps; their language having been outlawed, etc.

Some of that has been repealed. I wish I was absolutely sure that the video I’m going to show you is authentic, and not something dreamed up for tourists, but that’s the breaks…

Well, in this case I found something rather interesting to follow up on your post with.I’ll post it now, though I just posted, since the one 3 hours ago was for yesterday, which is still my today, where as this one is for my tomorrow, today. Yes, my schedule can be weird.

This is a four and a half minute clip from a Russian sci-fi film from 1979 called “Stalker”. From what I could gather from imdb, near an unnamed city is an area called the Zone, guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and men called ’stalkers’ sneak in and guide people to one special magical room contained within.

Looks like it was invaded by aliens[1], based on a look at the novel it’s based on, Roadside Picnic, found here. (Thanks, Sean!) I’ll have to watch the whole thing sometime. Religious overtones in a Russian film are interesting, too.

The filmwork, from what I can see here, is beautiful, desolate, and chilling, with great music. The whispered words are from Revelations 6:12-17, and given the lack of subtitles, I’ve provided the King James translation below:

Revelations 6:12 – 6:17

6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

[1] Though there are other interpretations; I read one person commenting on it say that a nuclear disaster had happened in the town, and that it was a coverup. Seems clear enough in the start of the book, though.

Well, if Firefly is a western in space… hmmm… I wonder what else could be a western in space… sort of a Wagon Train to the stars, if you will…

You don’t normally associate Star Trek with Firefly, I’ll admit. That’s because the first is in an optimistic and enlightened future where our leaders lead with wisdom and compassion and all races live in peace and harmony, and the second, well, isn’t.

It’s interesting seeing which TV viewers prefer. Next Generation had the United Federation of Planets playing nice with the Klingons, and yet, by Deep Space Nine, you had the Borg, the Jem’Hadar and political intrigues with the Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians that you needed a program, a scorecard and closed captioning to keep track of. The optimism of the original series was, by and large, forgotten.

Personally, I’ll take the smaller, sweatier and more immediate concerns of the crew of the Serenity over the galaxy-spanning, imagination-choking sweep that Star Trek acquired in DS9, Enterprise and, to a certain extent, in Voyager. But then, that’s me.

So let’s have a tribute to those halcyon days on TOS, when the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s were long behind us and letting a black woman on the bridge made headlines. I’ll admit Star Trekkin’, by the Firm, isn’t what most people would call a tribute. But it was this or filk.

Courtesy of roopert.

For the Winter Solstice, I wanted to play something pagan. And who does pagan better then Damh the Bard?

Noon of the Solstice – Damh the Bard

And there we are, a serious pagan song celebrating the solstice, as could be expected of him. After all, he always does these serious pagan-themed songs. Like the following:

The Wheels on the Bus – Damh the Bard

Clearly an ancient pagan song celebrating the ever-renewing cyclic nature of the seasons… all right, maybe not. But I couldn’t resist. I’m a Discordian, after all. As such, I feel humor is even more important at moments like this…

Well, I’m actually typing this as I head out the door, so I don’t really have time to come up with a response to La Cage aux Folles. In fact, all I really have time for is posting a song.

Free – Stevie Wonder

Not that this isn’t a very good, inspirational video. I just wish I had more time to talk about it. Amazing stuff.

Well, you know, Sean, noone ever said that was one of Ray Bradbury’s pleasant futures. That could have been part or the future world depicted in his short story “The Pedestrian”. Here’s a short animated clip based on it:

The Pedestrian – animated by iainmack

You see? A viewscreen in every home. Now if he’d said he was going to get some prunes, he might have got off.

Of course, a lot of Ray Bradbury’s stories have been dramatized in “Ray Bradbury Theatre”. One, though, seems to have been dramatized by everyone. I’ve always been fond of the story “There will Come Soft Rain”, and though these clips don’t totally do it justice in my mind, they give you the general idea.

There will Come Soft Rains – aidenai

This version isn’t nearly long enough, and only really touches on what happens in the story. The poem, too, is abbreviated. At that, the feel is close to the story. I wish that it was longer, and closer to the original.

There Will Come Soft Rains – Uzbekfilm

This, now, is a creepy Russian rendition. The poem was mostly replaced with some music and a prayer, and the ending was quite different then the story, though the end of the other was cut entirely.

Both versions seem to have cut the black outlines of the family stenciled on the walls, and the dog crawling in, fur hanging off, and dying in the house. The house catches fire at the end, too. The story itself is a very powerful vision of an automated house surviving long after it’s owners, and all of mankind have perished.

And you know, I really do like the poem this is all based on, written in 1920, by Sara Teasdale.

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pool singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

And this was written in 1920, well before Hiroshima or Nagasaki...

Anime, huh?

Oh dear God, the hideous hideous voices… forcing me to do these terrible things… making me go to YouTube… making me search for “Excel Saga”… STOP ME BEFORE I POST AGAIN!

Great. Now I have diabetes. And schizophrenia.

Courtesy of OishiiFeawen.

Well, that was… interesting.

Today, though, my inspiration is coming from reading Google news and looking at current goings on financially.

Looks like we’re not providing a $700 billion bailout to the companies that screwed over out economy, after all.

McCain sent out his chief economic advisor afterwards with this statement:

“This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country”.

In other news, 2/3 of the Republicans in the house voted against the bill. Amusingly, McCain’d been playing up the bill’s success being due to him before the vote. The flip side of credit, of course, is blame.

Anyone interested may be interested in reading Nancy Pelosi’s speech, which is what the Republicans are now trying to blame their voting the bill out on. And afterwards, it all came crashing down; the largest stock market loss since 1987.

But Sean tends to be better at talking about political matters then I am, so we’ll see if he wants to talk more about it.

In the meantime, here’s Black Monday:

Black Monday – Stakka & Skynet

So here we are with some refreshingly dark techno music. I thought this was a neat ambient piece, and it suits the mood for today. As does the next song:

Money – Pink Floyd

And here we have the crux of the matter, Money. This is a classic Pink Floyd piece from Dark Side of the Moon. And let’s face it, was there any bad music on Dark Side of the Moon?